I agree with normski, the brakes on the new S3 were one of the first things I noticed - everyone has had a few Audi's will know Audi tends to make the brakes on their cars to be grabby, but the S3's are very progressive and powerful. I've had a few 'hard' drives and not managed to get the bake grumbling or fading so happy so far!
A worthy upgrade and the calipers look great behind the rims!

but... that's not including the fitting.. or are you fitting them yourself? I'd be interested to know the entire cost including fitting (fitting push-bike brakes is something I'm more than capable of.. but I'd rather not trust myself with brakes on a car!)

but... that's not including the fitting.. or are you fitting them yourself? I'd be interested to know the entire cost including fitting (fitting push-bike brakes is something I'm more than capable of.. but I'd rather not trust myself with brakes on a car!)

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I will fit them myself, I have the kit to bleed the brakes properly, the set up is very very similar to Vauxhall which I have been doing for years.

Shao_khan said:

I think if you are doing the upgrade to S3 brakes and while doing it instal braided hoses, upgraded fluid and pads (if you can find some) you will be very pleased with the results.

I'm not sure yet, but I suspect with Factory fit in say track use we'll probably find that the Pads, fluid and interconnects will be where the problem occurs and thats all easy to fix.

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Your right, braided hoses are a must considering they are only £56.00 a set, it would be nice to put in some Mintex pads, but not sure if they are available yet, I won't change the fluid as I only see a benefit unless your doing lots of track days all year. Should be a nice set up.

Boydie said:

the s3 brakes are twin piston so as far as i am aware you need to bleed the brakes etc... so i would suggest a specialist!

why not consider the 3.2 A3 brakes? they have 345mm discs with uprated calipers and carriers

they do weigh a lot though which you might see a difference - but they will definately stop you!

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3.2 brakes were very high on my list, but the increase in up sprung weight really puts me off, I know they will stop very well but the S3 brakes are apparently slightly lighter than the standard 2.0 T brakes. As I am also changing the dampers and Anti Roll bars, I want to try to keep the car as nimble as possible.

At mallory last weekend on a track day I got chatting to the guys from milltek. Their black S3 had an RS4 brake conversion..... it was sreiously cool, though requires upgrading to 19" wheels.
At mallory the brake on my S3 we're fine, however, the course isn't that heavy on the brakes and it was very wet, so speeds we're sensible and braing distances very much on the cautious side, so don't really think they we're having much of a work out.
The guys from Milltek we're saying their S3 on standard brakes at croft coped with 4-5 hard laps before they faded right-off, hence they ahve gone for the RS4 conversion to get more out of each session.

In summary, even the S3 set up will start to struggle with sustained track use (though this is from word of mouth!), however for road use and my experiences so far, I stand by my guns as a great set up - one fo the best i've tried in an Audi.

FYI - the RS4 brake conversion was quoted at c&#163;1600 and is only for the front, the rears we're deemed more than up for the task!!!
Looked awesome too!

No mate, as Steve above has said 288mm for the 140 TDi and 312mm for the 2.0T and 170 TDI..

Makes an easy upgrade possible for the 140 though, just discs, pads and caliper carriers required to get the 312mm fronts although i was never that impressed with the same setup on my MKV GTI tbh so would like something bigger again for the A3....

Ok, just had a look at the S3 specs given in this months AudiDriver mag and also the Audi UK web site and the S3 has:

345mm front ventilated discs
310mm rear ventilated discs

The MKV R32 according to Volkswagen driver mag and also the VW UK website also has:

345mm front ventilated discs
310mm rear ventilated discs

The R32 shares it discs with the A3 3.2 V6 and also the calipers which although pretty hefty are only single piston as opposed to the twin piston set up used on the MK4 R32..

There is no mention whether the new S3 uses the same single piston caliper as the R32 but looking at pictures of both they appear very similiar with the S3 having the clip on 'S3' logo cover on the caliper face,

It certainly appears that both models share the same disc setup and very probably calipers too and i know from looking a while back that a front A3 3.2/R32 setup can be had for around the £500 mark, so the S3 setup could be exactly the same but with black painted calipers as opposed to blue on the R32 and silver for the 3.2...?

So..

288mm for 140 TDI
312mm for 170 TDI / 2.0T - both these share a common caliper

so going by your stats the s3 brake discs will be exactly the same as the 3.2?

from what i have heard the bigger discs are noticably different weight wise

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No probs at all mate :icon_thumright:

It certainly seems that the S3 and 3.2 discs are the same even if the calipers turn out to be different in some way, and yep, the are pretty weighty bits of kit... there is quite a noticeable difference in weight between the 288mm and 312mm discs so would assume even more so when going up to 345mm...
The S3 has some aluminium suspension parts iirc which will go some way to offsetting the extra weight of the bigger brakes and help keep the unsprung weight down although i personally would be happy with a little extra weight to lug around for the much better braking performance...:icon_thumright:

Here's a pic of the full 345mm brake conversion offered by Autotech for $1299..

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